diet and health

Influenza Diet

The flu diet is a diet that - while not able to directly cure the disease - helps support the body in the fight against infection.

As a matter of informative correctness, let us remember that the flu is a pathology of a viral nature and that, therefore, the use of antibiotics is totally inappropriate (except for secondary complications).

Influence

Influenza means an infectious disease caused by viruses belonging to the Orthomyxoviridae family .

The symptoms of influenza are mainly: fever, pharyngitis, nasal and sinus congestion, muscle and bone pain, headache and cough.

Sometimes, the flu also induces nausea and vomiting, especially in young subjects.

Serious complications are rare - such as pneumonia, asthma exacerbation and worsening heart failure - which mainly affect the elderly, the immune-deficient subjects and those potentially at risk.

What does the Diet have to do with it?

While not influencing the elimination of the pathogen directly, the flu diet has unexceptionable importance on the speed and effectiveness of healing.

An appropriate diet is in fact able to reduce the negative effects secondary to fever, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea, responsible for a tendency to dehydration, anorexia and nutritional malabsorption.

Temperature

Fever is an immune response triggered by some cytokines on the hypothalamic regulation center, which causes an increase in body temperature to accelerate the healing process.

Fever is therefore essential to the fight against the flu; for this, it should be reduced with drugs only when it becomes intolerable for the subject.

As anticipated, fever is caused by an increase in temperature by the organism itself; being an active reaction, fever also has a more or less important energy cost, depending on the entity.

It has been estimated that the increase in body temperature above 37 ° C can increase the basal metabolic rate up to 13%; however, considering that the flu causes a significant reduction in physical activity, the total caloric requirement does not increase as much as might be expected (for more information, see the article Diet and Fever).

One of the fundamental and faultless aspects of fever is increased sweating; this, which is extremely variable among the various cases, determines a significant increase in water and salt requirements.

Nausea

Nausea is a sensation of discomfort and discomfort located in the upper portion of the stomach, which very often results in the effect of involuntary vomiting.

Nausea is associated with the reduction of appetite to anorexia and, if continued over time, becomes a rather debilitating (hyponutrition) and debilitating symptom.

He retched

We have chosen to differentiate between vomiting and nausea due to the different effect they can have on the nutritional state of the subject, but not only.

As anticipated, vomiting is a frequent consequence of the sense of nausea; however, the two circumstances can also manifest themselves in a totally independent manner.

Especially in subjects at a young age, and especially in the immediate post-incubation period, vomiting can occur without any kind of warning.

While nausea has a negative secondary nutritional effect (loss of appetite and anorexia), vomiting is responsible for both a nutritional loss (of the expelled meal) and a dispersion of liquids (digestive juices of the stomach, small intestine and major glands) .

Among the short-term consequences of vomiting, the most significant ones concern malnutrition and dehydration.

Diarrhea

Like vomiting, diarrhea or dysentery is also a symptom that occurs mainly in young subjects and can give rise to more than significant complications.

Diarrhea exerts a rather pronounced anti-nutritional effect, drastically limiting intestinal absorption and above all the reabsorption of water, mineral salts and vitamins in the colon. Sometimes it is associated with exfoliation of the mucosa and bleeding, with further loss of water and increased nutritional demand.

The most significant effects are once again malnutrition and dehydration.

Diet and Advice

The fundamental principles of the diet for influenza are varied and very important but - depending on the specific case, the stage of the disease and the predominant symptoms - may be slightly different.

Hydration

In all types of flu, it is strictly advisable to guarantee a high level of hydration, necessary to compensate for: sweating, increased hepato-renal function for the disposal of endogenous and pharmacological catabolites, possible vomiting and diarrhea.

Body water can be maintained by drinking more and eating liquid or well-hydrated foods .

However, if the flu is characterized by significant nausea and vomiting, this can become a serious problem. In this case, the increase in drinks and liquid foods becomes impractical, as the stimulation of vomiting would increase drastically.

Not everyone knows that the sense of nausea and vomiting are significantly worsened by some factors such as fasting and hypoglycemia, gastric hyperacidity and excess fluid in the stomach.

This explains why, in case of intense nausea and vomiting, it becomes absolutely necessary to eat food:

  • Very pleasant (to counter nausea, lack of appetite and anorexia), but always within the limits of the indications that will follow
  • Dried or otherwise not brodose, so that they tend to absorb gastric liquids rather than increase their volume
  • Easy to digest, therefore: moderately proteic but rich in essential amino acids (few peptides but with a high biological value), poor in fats and mainly unsaturated (low-fat foods and poor seasoning, only with raw vegetable oils), and possibly rich in carbohydrates.

In case of diarrhea, it is advisable that they are also:

  • Without irritating mucosa molecules (alcohol, other nerves, spices, etc.)
  • Lactose-free
  • Without osmotic agents, such as some sweeteners (xylitol etc.)
  • Poor fiber.

This very first phase must be continued until the vomiting is reduced but never for too long; it is absolutely crucial to restore the supply of water and essential nutrients as soon as possible and, if necessary, to drink by means of a soup spoon.

In patients at risk, dehydration is sometimes precociously counteracted with the use of IV bags (parenteral route).

Against Diarrhea

Once the tolerance of liquids is assured, especially in children and always in the case of pharmacological use, it will be possible and desirable to use formulas to restore the water and alkaline balance like Pedialyte, Milupa, Biochetasi etc.

In the case of persistent diarrhea, this can be combated by taking natural products such as diosmectite and charcoal.

Milk and dairy products, with the exception of small portions of parmesan cheese on pasta dishes, should be taken at least 3-4 hours after oral tetracycline intake, as they may inactivate the drug causing it to fall into the intestine.

When to start taking solid foods

The order of food insertion more or less respects the following order:

water and rehydrating liquids → jams and fruit jellies → vegetable purée → pasta or rice in broth → lean veal, chicken and fish-scale meat, possibly blended to increase digestibility.

On the contrary, it is better to delay the intake of very fatty, raw or overcooked foods, or those rich in connective tissue (molluscs).

We have already said that, as a rule, the influence does not cause an increase in energy requirements; however, it is still uncertain whether it may require higher levels of other irreplaceable nutrients such as fatty acids and essential amino acids, vitamins and mineral salts.

When in doubt, once the digestive capacity is guaranteed, the levels of all useful nutrients should be increased, both through diet and with supplements.

In particular, it is recommended to increase the vitamin ration of:

  • Vitamin C or ascorbic acid, involved in the production of interferon (natural antiviral)
  • Complex B vitamins, involved in the proper functioning of the immune system.